The best of intentions

Posted: Wednesday, September 11, 2002

I acknowledge that Ken Koelsch and his press gang rammed a midnight road resolution through the Assembly with the best of intentions. The issue was too important for the niceties of public process and the respect for the public they signify. After all, even though Juneau voted against the road, it was close, and we're all damn sick of it so they just had to bring it up again (no wait, that makes no sense).

Hold on, I see that the real reason for the road resolution is to change the attitude of Mark Chryson, surely one of the most important political figures in the state. If we had a road, he'd no longer feel Juneau was isolated and would stop trying to steal our legislators. I think this is somewhat disrespectful of Mr. Chryson's intelligence, as it's pretty obvious no one from Anchorage would actually ever use the road during the session (it'd be two days of icy driving, each way). Then again, maybe they know him better than I do. Actually, I'm not too worried about Wasilla stealing the capital. What outside support we have for keeping the capital in Juneau comes from communities who'd hate to see the Anchorage area get any more political pull than it already has.

At the risk of planting ideas, I'm much more scared by Prudhoe Bay. They have the haul road already, and they're not Anchorage. Will they be the successful capital thief?